A new, General Aviation Terminal (GAT) has opened in San Jose, Costa Rica (MROC). GAT offers exclusive areas for crew and passengers and promisses to make arrival and departure procedures more efficient and comfortable. It does not add ramp space for parking (which has been limited this holiday season), it only offers facilities to clear customs and immigration and, if you need to, rest and drink some coffee.

Ground Handling is still mandatory so if you use GAT, you will still need to do it through a handler. Before the terminal opened during the last weeks of December, 2019, crew and passengers of private flights would have to use the same facilities as the commercial passengers but a preferential line was available for for crew and passengers of private flights (no waiting in line with the commercial passengers)

Nevertheless, since GAT opened, this preferential line has been disabled; so if you choose not to use the new terminal, you will have to wait in line with hundreds of airline passengers.

Fees for using GAT are high, adding around $120 USD per passenger and there is also a terminal fee ranging from $250 to $799 USD depending on the aircraft's MTOW.

Costs in MROC are known to be high due to the price of parking, the new terminal adds on to these costs. While MROC is the main International Airport, if your itinerary is flexible and you are not set on the VIP experience, you may want to consider other options in Costa Rica, such as MRLB or MRPV.

Let us know your thoughts!

Last edited by Caribbean Sky Tours; 01/02/20 04:25 PM.
CST Flight Services (Formerly: Caribbean Sky Tours)
www.cstflightservices.com